Joenel Aguero, Georgia DBs working to reach full potential while filling big shoes

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia is looking for its sophomore class to step up in 2024, and few fit that mold mean than Joenel Aguero. The do-it-all defensive back came out of high school as one of the top three safeties in the country. He spent his first season in Athens learning behind the likes of Javon Bullard and Tykee Smith. Now, it’s Aguero’s turn to fill their shoes as a key piece in the Bulldog secondary.

“It used to be that it was really hard to play your first year. Your second year was your year to start getting in the rotation, maybe the two-deep or special teams. Both those guys were able to play some last year through opportunities that afforded them a lead,” Georgia head coach said about Aguero, and fellow second-year player in the secondary Daniel Harris.

“The sky is the limit, but they are not to the sky,” he added. “They have to keep improving. I am excited about where they are. They are really good football players. If they want to stay here at Georgia and continue to get better, grow and play, they have bright futures in front of them. Each one of them is exciting players.”

Aguero spent the majority of his time at STAR during his freshman season. Backing up Smith, Aguero got in the field in 12 contests, primarily on special teams and managed to make an impact play in one of Georgia’s biggest games.

Against Florida, the Lynn, Mass. native and product of IMG Academy and St. John’s Prep came up with a blocked punt that went out of the end zone for a safety, keeping the momentum on UGA’s side after the Gators scored first. It was without a doubt the highlight of the season for Aguero, who totaled seven tackles on the year including one for loss against UAB, also breaking up a Blazers pass during his time on the field.

Now getting more opportunities to shine, Aguero’s talent is put on a display on a daily basis for his teammates to see. Defensive backs JaCorey Thomas and Dan Jackson spoke of his physicality at 205 pounds and speed, recording a 4.48 electronically timed 40-yard dash prior to his junior season at IMG.

“Joenel is very fast. He’s very quick, too. Like I said, Georgia has a bunch of heavy hitters, and he’s one of them. He’s definitely one of them” Thomas said. “I wish the best for the Joenel. I know everything’s going to be great when he comes in to play.”

“Joenel’s a great player, very physical player,” Jackson added. “He’s a guy who’s going to give you everything he’s got at practice. Look forward to seeing him this season.”

Wide receiver Dominic Lovett has a different perspective on Aguero. Rather than working beside him on the back end of the Bulldogs’ defense, Lovett and the UGA pass catchers are trying to beat him on each and every rep. That’s hard because he reminds them of the same NFL-bound defensive backs that tested them every rep at practice.

“Joenel is his own person, but I would say he’s like a miniature version of Tykee,” Lovett said. “They’ve got the same body type, play very, very physical.”

Aguero is part of a Georgia secondary that’s seeing plenty of overhaul this spring. Not only are Smith, Bullard and Javon Lassiter off to the league, but also All-American Malaki Starks is sidelined. He’ll be back for the season, giving the Bulldogs a boost of experience. Still, it’s a young group that’s taking on a tough job – and seemingly picking it up pretty well.

“I’ve just seen them all come a long way from having who we had last year to having who we have this year. A lot of those young guys are going to learn from the vets, and you can tell by how they go about their business, how about they go about practicing and just how they care themselves as young men,” Lovett said. “What I’ve learned about Joenel is just basically the same thing I asked Tykee. Like, ‘What position does a DB not want to be in? What are you looking for on this down, on this conversion? Is there a certain call that y’all go to when we stack?’ Just things of that nature, just trying to kind of pick his brain from a defensive standpoint.”

Georgia will go through a second scrimmage of the spring on Saturday, a week out from G-Day. In reflecting on last week’s action, Kirby Smart said there were busts on the defensive side that opened things up for the offense to have a big day. While the mistakes went both ways and there ‘wasn’t a dominant performance,’ the Bulldog defensive backs will want to have a better day both this go around and for the public to see during the spring game.